You Learn To See
by Just Mosie
Summary: Lisbon knew that getting Jane out of jail, having his baby, and saying "yes" to his proposal while in a bathtub would only complicate her life further, but little did she know was how much happier she would be. Oneshot series to Time Waits For No One.
1. Making the Best of It

**Hi...I know I've been fairly absent from the whole fanfiction-world as of late, but I'm trying to come back! Honest! Well, first off, this is the first one-shot for the series based off the fanfiction piece "Time Waits For No One." There are characters/situations that I introduced in that fic, and if you have not read it, you may not understand who these and what I may be referring to. This is a little courtesy heads up...**

**I would like to thank everyone who previously read, reviewed, and favourited "Time Waits For No One" and myself. It really meant a lot! **

You Learn To See

Making the Best of It

Teresa Lisbon glances down at the ring on her finger as the light catches it. She is engaged to be married to none other than the bane of the CBI's existence, Patrick Jane. Patrick Jane as in the man that did everything according to his own thought process. Most of the things that have happened over the course of the years have all been sporadic in a sense when involving him. Their engagement…also sporadic and slightly unconventional in a sense, unless someone would find a man proposing to his lover while she is naked and getting out of a bath conventional. Teresa Lisbon, however, did not find this conventional. But it worked and got results. It also kept her on her toes for the most part.

Shaking her head and smiling, she pushes those thoughts out of her mind and sets herself more firmly on the task at hand – folding napkins. Last night Jane had brought up 'telling the team' and had decided to tell them in a form of a dinner party at their expense. At first she did not really want to go through the trouble of it all, but decided to suck it up and go with it. After all, she wants to see the team because she misses them so much.

Folding her last napkin, she takes a step back and admires what she has done to the kitchen area of her apartment. Sure it still looks like her domain, but it also looks a bit more houseguest inviting as compared to how it looked before.

Ever since they brought home baby David a little over two weeks ago, it has been difficult to maintain the apartment. The little time both she and Jane had were spent trying to get some healthy hours of sleep into their schedule…that is, if David permitted it. Hence why she spent the majority of her day cleaning up the first level to her apartment while Jane stayed with David. He, of course, originally offered to clean up the apartment, but she flatly refused his offer. Despite the fact that he knows her to an entirely creepy extent, she still likes to know where everything is so she does not have to scramble to find it. So, naturally, she has him cooking the dinner.

"Teresa?" she hears him yell from the upstairs, and this causes her to snap out of her momentary ten-second vacation.

She takes a step forward and cranes her neck to look up in his general direction, "Yes? Is something wrong with the baby?" a feeling of unease fills her stomach at the mere notion that her baby could be hurt or not feeling well.

"Uh, no," she really did not like his answer, "Can you please just come upstairs?"

"Patrick…" she warns as she moves to climb up carpet-covered stairs, "What is going on?"

Once she reaches the top of the stairs, she starts off towards their son's nursery. She tries not to think of what she may see. Lisbon stops in front of the door and just as she reaches for the knob, she hears something behind a closed door not too far from where she stood. Quirking her brow, she moves away from the nursery and slowly makes her way towards the foreign sound. Jane is up to something, and she wants to know what.

"Jane, what are you doing?"

She places her hand on the door and exerts a light pressure on the wood until it opens to fully reveal the bathroom – the same one he proposed in four days ago. She steps into the room and pauses. There are no lights on except from the vanilla-scented candles in various locations of the room. Is he recreating their engagement night?

"Patrick—," she is unable to finish her sentence when she feels a firm hand wrap around her waist and pull her into a solid chest.

Instinctively, she jumps and makes a movement to firmly press her elbow into the soft abdomen behind her, but the soft sound of a man shushing her and then feeling him nuzzle behind her ear has her stop. His fingers start drumming slightly against her waist and he presses a soft kiss below her ear. Lisbon slowly shuts her eyes and leans into him, placing one hand on his and he makes a movement to lace his fingers with hers.

"You need to take a nice and relaxing bath," he pulls her around to face him and he softly kisses her cheek. "It would do you well."

She smirks and stands up on the tip of her toes, her lips only a couple of milimetres from his now, "Are you saying that I smell, Patrick Jane?"

He chuckles, "Oh, you definitely smell, but not in a bad way," he lovingly runs a hand down the side of her arm, "You smell like home. And like a mother."

Lisbon playfully hits him on the chest and presses a loving kiss to his mouth, "You are a strange man. A lovable strange man," he gives her an impish look and maneuvers so that she is flat on her feet again. He wraps one arm around her waist again and the other he buries in her dark auburn locks. Jane pulls her to him and lightly touches his lips to hers.

"I love you so much," he says as he breaks the kiss.

She nods and blinks, her hand reaching up to allow her fingertips to lightly brush across his cheek. He catches her hand in his and presses a soft kiss to her palm. Squeezing it against his cheek, he leans down once more and kisses the corner of her mouth. She sighs against him and allows her shoulders to relax and to lean further into his body, so that they were fully into each other.

"The water is going to get cold," he says.

Lisbon looks up at him and smiles, "Well, we can't have that."

He pulls back and takes her hand in his. Jane slowly leads her towards the bathtub. They stop before it, and he reaches down and takes the T-shirt she is wearing and begins to pull it slowly over her head. Once it's off, he looks down at her body and sighs. It's not perfect – nowhere near by traditional standards – but it only makes him love her more.

* * *

><p>The dinner is meant to be a casual affair, despite the fact that everyone is wearing clothes straight from the office. Jane had earlier tried to convince Lisbon to wear a sundress type of garment, but she quickly rejected the suggestion – that dress was reserved for extremely important moments outside of the house. Not casual dinner parties. He had thrown her an exasperated look and just told her that the navy blue shirt she is currently wearing would suffice. To spite and mess with him, she almost did not wear it.<p>

The first thing the houseguests wanted to do upon their arrival was hold baby David. Cho and Rigsby were surprisingly the most hesitant to do it – Rigsby slightly afraid that he would break the tiny baby and Cho feeling slightly uneasy about the whole matter. Grace was very excited to hold onto the little baby, staring at him in awe as he moved in and out of sleep throughout the duration of her holding onto him. And finally, their lawyer friend and saviour, Kaitlin Stark held onto the baby. Jane was the uneasy one seeing her hold onto his son, and Lisbon concluded that this was because of Stark's parentage. As she sat next to him, she noticed that his hand clenched into a fist on his thigh, and to appease him, she placed her hand over his tight fist. He had looked at her then, and she could see the worry in his eyes.

The second thing…was the desire for food. Mostly brought on by Rigsby trying – and failing – to stealthily look around the Lisbon-Jane dwelling for the source of the delicious smell. Upon noticing, Jane got up and started serving a salad from a large bowl – it contained mostly iceberg lettuce, knowing that Rigsby only eats iceberg lettuce. The team ate it up as they happily chatted about their latest case, and how much they missed having Jane and Lisbon around at headquarters.

"Jane, are you going to come back as our consultant?" Grace asks.

With his mouth still full of salad, Jane merely nods and rather clumsy swallow of the salad, "Yes, I do plan on returning. I plan on going in next week to negotiate my contract with Hightower."

"Are you going to be back on our team?" the rookie asks again.

"I plan on it," he gave her a bright smile showing her that if for some odd reason Hightower placed him elsewhere, the boss lady would surely have repercussions. "Only Teresa can really handle me," he gestured to the love of his life beside him and smiled.

"Right," Lisbon nods sarcastically, "And will you listen to everything I say?" she spun her fork around on her empty plate and quirks her eyebrow at him.

Jane looks at her and then around at all the empty looks in his direction. He simply smiles, "I will make an effort, but I cannot promise you that I will be able to follow through on it."

After his statement, Jane quickly gets up and makes his way to the kitchen to grab the main course – eggplant parmesan. He hastily sets it on the counter and started dividing up the portions when he feels a hand brush against his shoulder. Jane hid his surprise well and turns to look over his shoulder at his fiancée, who is gazing at him expectantly.

"When are we going to tell them?" she whispers softly.

He plops a hefty piece of the eggplant down on a plate – for Rigsby, "Would you like to do it right now?"

"Uh, I was thinking we should tell them after dinner? Like maybe over coffee."

"And risk coffee stains in the freshly cleaned upholstery? No, I think we should do it right now."

Lisbon leans into the counter and crosses her arms over her chest, "Is that why you quickly came over here? Knowing that I would follow you?"

He looks her over at and just nods, "Yeah, that is what I was thinking. It worked," he smiles, leans forward, and pecks her lips to momentarily distract her.

Her eyes widen in shock when he steps away from the kitchen area and rubs his hands together. He stands before the team and Stark with a huge grin present on his face as he moves up and down on his toes. Everyone turns to look up at him expectantly and waits for him to start talking.

"Everyone, Teresa and I have an announcement to make," he turns over to her and gestures for her to come up and stand beside him, which she does hesitantly. "It's big," he smiles and takes Lisbon's hand in his.

Rigsby opens his mouth and looks over at baby David, who is now being cradled in Grace's arms, "You're not pregnant again, are you?" he glances towards Lisbon's midsection.

Lisbon suddenly feels her cheeks warm up and she takes a small step backwards. She looks over at Jane as he blinks, the smile still present on his face as he watches everyone sitting on the couches in the living room.

"No, Rigsby, but possibly in due time," his eyes twinkle as he looks over at his fiancée once more, "No, we're not pregnant again, but this will change things."

He reaches over and pulls Lisbon towards him. He takes a hold of her hand and pushes it out towards the room's other occupants. Much like earlier, the light hits the diamond ring and it catches everyone's eyes. Grace gasps in awe, Rigsby blanches – most likely due to his previous statement, Cho's eye widen in shock, and Stark merely shifts in her spot as a smile becomes present over her features.

"We're getting married."

**Well, that concludes the first part! I'm really stoked to be writing this! And I hope to update this relatively frequently depending on my schedule (I'm a college student.) and I also want to ask one thing of everyone: to please keep the state of Texas in your thoughts. I'm not sure how many of you know that there has been a drought affecting the state for the past several months, and wildfires have been cropping up during these past months. Some of the fires are now moving closer to where my family lives, and believe me...it's terrifying to have someone call you to inform you that "the smell of burning wood and sight of smoke is everywhere." **

**And reviews would be greatly appreciated(:**


	2. We Had No Control

**Hi.**

**I know I have been gone for, yet again, and astonishing amount of time. The last few months have been rather stressful school-wise and personally, but at least the holidays are rapidly approaching! And I sort of get a break! Thank everyone for all their reviews (if I accidentally forgot to reply to someone!), subscriptions, and favourites. **

**It also doesn't help that I lost my USB stick that held the original one to this…awkward.**

**MissDonnie - Thank you so much! I'm not from Texas, but the feeling that it (was) on fire was horrible. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist, but I _did_ put it on my Christmas list again. So, we shall see. ;) **

You Learn To See

~We Had No Control~

Within the elevator, Patrick Jane somewhat uneasily shifts his footing in an attempt to squish out all uneasy feelings of returning to the CBI building. Here he was, going back to Hightower in order to ask for his job back. For the last few weeks, he has been telling himself (and Lisbon) that he would be getting on it. The night before was when he made the commitment to call Hightower in the morning, and of course she asked him to come in immediately.

When the elevator dinged, Jane quickly steps out and onto an all too familiar floor as he treks towards Hightower's office. He knocks on the door once before pushing it open to reveal the woman he is searching for sitting behind her desk as she pours over case files.

Clearing his throat, he clasps his hands together behind his back and makes his way up to her desk. This catches her attention, and she looks up at him and smiles.

"Patrick, it is good to see you," she stands up and offers her hand. He politely takes it and returns her shake. "How are you?"

He nods his head, "I'm all right."

She nods at this and smiles, "Teresa and the baby?"

Jane smiles at her mention of his family, "They are doing excellent. I think Lisbon may even consider becoming a stay-at-home mother."

The last part was a joke, as there was no way Teresa Lisbon could ever become a stay-at-home mother. She would love being around little David for a while, but then boredom would set in and she would grow miserable. And Jane did not want to see Lisbon miserable.

Hightower chuckles at his joke and crosses her arms over her chest, "So, Patrick, you are here to talk about the possibility of getting your consultation job back with the CBI."

She was still smiling when he nods, "Yes, Madeline, I am hoping to get my job back. On Lisbon's team, of course."

Nodding, Hightower sits back down. "I'll see what I can do," she says to him, "But don't be surprised if I cannot put you back on Lisbon's team. People may not like that."

Jane merely shrugs his shoulders, as if to just say "meh" to it all. He is pretty confident that Hightower would be able to get him his position back on Lisbon's team whether everyone else approved of it or not. After all, he _was_ a valuable asset to the CBI. And not allowing him to return would be a waste of talent.

"Patrick," Hightower says in a slightly warning tone, "I really may not be able to put you back on Lisbon's team."

Part of him wants to verbally deny it to her, but he decides not to and leave her be. Instead, he nods and gives her a slight wave as he walks back out of her office. As the door shuts, he hears her say goodbye. He gives her another little wave and sets off towards the all-too familiar bullpen.

Everything is the same. The desks are all arranged the same way as they had been before he had gone to prison. There were the same little trinkets and objects on everyone's desk. And the most important thing about the bullpen is that his couch is still in the same exact place as it was before. The janitor hadn't even moved it.

Smiling at that, he walks over towards the couch, presses a hand down on the brown leather, and pats it softly. Yep, he is still extremely confident to get his job back in due time. Of course, he did not mind if it took awhile for it to happen, as he would not get tired of spending his free time with Lisbon and David.

Stepping back from the couch and heading towards another all too familiar part of the CBI, his phone rings. Pausing in the doorway between the bullpen and the passageway, he pulls out his phone and flips it open.

"Hello, Teresa," he smiles as her name rolls off his tongue. "Is everything all right."

"_Yeah, everything's fine. Where are you?"_

His smile only grows as he steps through the doorway and towards her office. "I'm still at the CBI. Madeline is going to try and let me return as a consultant again."

"_On my team?"_

He nods, even though she cannot see him, "Yes, I made sure to emphasize that I want to be with you."

On the other line, Lisbon chuckles slightly, _"__Do __you __think __she__'__ll __reimburse __me __on __all __the __Aspirin __I__'__ll __have __to __buy __again?__"_

In a carefree manner, he shrugs his shoulders, "Oh I don't know, Teresa." He pauses their discussion to open the door to her office. "Maybe you should ask her when you return."

"_I __will!__"_ She is still chuckling in the background.

He walks around her office, taking in all the pictures he has not seen in quite some time. He pauses at the sonogram picture of David at sixteen weeks, and his heart constricts slightly in his chest.

"_Patrick? Is something wrong?"_

"Uhh." In all honesty, there was nothing wrong. He just felt another wave of guilt come across him at the sight of his (then) unborn child in the woman he love's womb. "No, there isn't anything wrong."

"_You sure?"_

"Yeah," he says softly, "I'm sure. Listen, I should go if I wan to leave now," she didn't say anything in between, "I love you, Teresa."

"_I __love __you __too_."

And she hung up on her end of the line.

He pockets his cell phone and picks up the picture of the sonogram. Without taking his eyes off of it, he moves to sit back down on the cream-coloured couch that he had bought her so long ago. Welcoming the cushions, he shakily held the picture up again. The guilt within him only grew stronger, and he did his best not to let the tears fall. He could not help the occasional tear from running down the side of his cheeks as he clutched the little sonogram to his chest.

Sometimes life isn't fair.

**I decided to make this one slightly angsty (and sadly short) because I really do feel like I need to make Jane feel as if he is guilty for missing the majority of Lisbon's pregnancy by being in prison. Don't worry, things should be happier next time. **


End file.
